Loretta Lynch, Former U.S. Attorney General, to Co-Present 2026 Branton Award to Former DOJ Civil Rights Division Public Servants
Loretta Lynch, former U.S. Attorney General, will be co-presenting the 2026 Wiley A. Branton Award to former career public servants of the U.S. Justice Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division.
Lynch served as Attorney General under President Obama from 2015 to 2017, becoming the first African American woman to hold this office. In that role, she supervised the Justice Department’s major litigating divisions, including Civil Rights, Antitrust, Civil, Criminal, Environment and Natural Resources, and Tax. She also oversaw more than 100,000 employees across numerous agencies and offices, including the 93 U.S. Attorneys; major investigative agencies, including the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the U.S. Marshals Service; the Bureau of Prisons; the National Security Division; and the Office of the Solicitor General. Following government service, Lynch joined Paul, Weiss with a focus on advising clients on complex government and internal investigations and high-stakes litigation matters.
WLC invites you to join us on May 27 to honor these public servants for their outstanding service to civil rights and racial justice.
Registration is now open for the 2026 Wiley A. Branton Awards Luncheon. Individual tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available for this annual event honoring leadership and service in civil rights.
Sponsorships are offered at multiple levels and include recognition across event materials, as well as reserved seating and table options.
Full details on ticketing and sponsorship opportunities are available here.
Join us March 12 to Hear the Latest Developments in Our Work to Stop Unlawful ICE Arrests in D.C.
Three months ago, in December 2025, Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs (WLC) and our partners won a preliminary injunction blocking unlawful warrantless immigration arrests in D.C., without probable cause.
Despite this court order, evidence shows that the Department of Homeland Security has continued the unlawful practice of conducting immigration arrests without probable cause.
On March 11, we will be back in federal court to hold ICE accountable. Madeleine Gates, WLC attorney, will be presenting arguments to enforce the preliminary injunction.
In February 2026, a federal court issued a preliminary injunction in our lawsuit, New England Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, et al. v. Department of Homeland Security, et al., halting immigration arrests and surveillance at churches for eight religious organizations, while the case proceeds.
The court reaffirmed that freedom of religion is a core American value protected by the First Amendment — not only the freedom to believe, but the freedom to worship. It found that routine immigration enforcement does not justify the harm caused by the Department of Homeland Security policy.
For more than three decades, federal policy had generally limited enforcement at houses of worship, recognizing them as “sensitive locations.” In 2025, those protections were rescinded, causing fear in congregations, declining attendance, and suspension of vital ministries.
Plaintiffs — including Lutheran, Baptist, Quaker, and Metropolitan Community Churches congregations from Massachusetts, California, Texas, and Wisconsin — came forward to defend their right to worship freely and serve all people regardless of immigration status.
We are proud to be litigating this religious freedom case alongside Democracy Forward and Gilbert LLP.
WLC Amicus Brief Filed in U.S. Supreme Court Birthright Citizenship Case
Since 1868, the U.S. Constitution has guaranteed that infants born on U.S. soil are U.S. citizens, with limited exceptions. That principle is now before the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS). On April 1, SCOTUS will hear oral arguments in Trump v. Barbara, a case challenging a Trump executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship.
WLC, Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC, and Arnold & Porter, on behalf of a coalition of national immigrant rights organizations, filed an amicus brief urging SCOTUS to uphold birthright citizenship.
As WLC supervisory counsel Sarah Bessell stated: “Birthright citizenship is an essential element that upholds the ideals of an American multiracial democracy. The Constitution guarantees that every child born within our nation’s borders is recognized as a U.S. citizen, protected and valued under the law.”
We are proud to be fighting for a foundational constitutional protection that is core to American identity, history, and culture.
In 2022, WLC and Cleary Gottlieb filed suit on behalf of Michael Rowe, a father who was brutally assaulted and detained by Special Police Officers (SPOs), private officers who receive little training but are authorized under D.C. law to carry guns and make arrests.
The incident at the heart of the complaint occurred after Mr. Rowe dropped off his mother and sister at the Park Southern Apartment complex, where they lived. With his three young children in the car, Mr. Rowe attempted to drive out of the property parking garage, but found it blocked by a group of SPOs that would not move. When the SPOs finally moved enough to let him exit, Mr. Rowe had words with them, and in response, the SPOs threatened to shoot him, assaulted him, pepper-sprayed him in the face, searched him, and purported to arrest him. Once the police arrived, they released Mr. Rowe and told him he would not be arrested.
Following the incident, Mr. Rowe required medical treatment for his injuries and suffered severe emotional distress. With the assistance of Cleary, Mr. Rowe sought to vindicate his rights against the SPOs, the company employing them, and the management company at the building. The matter was successfully resolved out of court.
The Cleary pro bono team will be honored at WLC’s Branton awards luncheon on May 27.
Jackie Papish, a partner with Barnes & Thornburg LLP, specializes in matters involving healthcare fraud and abuse and white collar defense. She regularly represents clients in False Claims Act litigation and related civil and criminal investigations by the U.S. Justice Department, Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, Food and Drug Administration, Drug Enforcement Administration, and other federal and state regulators.
Jackie is dedicated to donating her time to pro bono matters and has achieved successful results for her clients, including a favorable 2025 decision for a client seeking a sentence reduction under the Incarceration Reduction Amendment Act.
A University of Virginia law graduate, Jackie clerked for the Hon. William S. Duffey, Jr. (Ret.) of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia and assisted Judge Duffey when he sat by designation on the U.S. Court of Appeals (11th Cir.).
A board member of the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs (WLC), Jackie shares, “I am honored to join the WLC Board. I look forward to helping WLC strengthen its community partnerships and advance meaningful, critical impact litigation and policy advocacy in support of civil rights and access to justice.”
Maryanne Magnier is an Associate in the Antitrust Group at Axinn. A Georgetown Law graduate, Maryanne served as a student attorney at Georgetown’s Criminal Justice Clinic, litigating criminal cases in D.C. Superior Court. She also interned with the DOD’s Military Commissions Defense Organization, where she drafted memoranda, briefs, and motions for a trial team defending a Guantanamo Bay detainee.
An Associate Trustee with the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights (WLC), Maryanne shares, “WLC has been tirelessly fighting for constitutional rights and dismantling injustice for over half a century. I am so proud to be an Associate Trustee and to contribute to the pursuit of a more equitable society.”
On March 11, Maddy Gates will be in federal court, presenting arguments to hold ICE accountable.
Maddy is Associate Counsel at the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs. Her work focuses on combatting wage theft and discrimination in the workplace and fighting law enforcement's abuses of power. She has had the honor of representing construction workers fighting for unpaid wages, women confronting sex harassment in the workplace, faith organizations across the country challenging immigration arrests at houses of worship, and communities subjected to unlawful immigration arrests.
A Harvard Law graduate, Maddy previously worked as a postgraduate fellow at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC, where she focused on employment, housing, and human rights cases. She also clerked for Judge Josephine Staton (CDCA) and Judge Sandra Lynch on the U.S. Court of Appeals (1st Cir.).
Coming Down the Pike
So Many Ways to Stand With Us!
Your support powers the Washington Lawyers’ Committee’s work across the region — from living rooms to courtrooms.
Feb. 2 – Apr. 10: Associates’ Campaign
Mar. 12, 12 noon ET: Special Briefing on Warrantless ICE Arrests Litigation
Mar. 12, 5:30 p.m.: House Party Happy Hour – West End, NW, D.C.
Mar. 31 at 11 a.m.:Closing arguments, Shenandoah County School Board trial (Harrisonburg, VA)
Apr. 18, 3 p.m.: House Party – Bethesda, MD May 21, 5:30 p.m.: WLC to Receive Justice Potter Stewart Award at CCE Gala May 27, 12 noon: 2026Wiley A. Branton Awards Luncheon
Board Co-Chairs Brian Schneider (ArentFox Schiff) Avis Buchanan (retired)
The Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs works to create legal, economic, and social equity for low-income marginalized communities in Maryland, Virginia, Washington DC, and across the country. We partner with individuals and communities facing discrimination and with the legal community to achieve justice. We bring strategic litigation to advance fair housing, disability rights, education equity, workers’ rights, immigrant justice, women’s rights, and criminal legal system reform.
